Lil’ Peep’s Mother Sues Management Company Over Son’s Deadly Overdose

By: Liza Honaker, Staff Writer

Lil’ Peep was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania.[1] His parents named him Gustav Ahr and his mom gave him the nickname “Peep”, the inspiration of his future rap persona, because of his resemblance to baby chicks they were raising.[2] He moved with his parents to Long Island, New York in 2001, where he began writing and recording music to deal with growing issues of anxiety and depression.[3] Peep dropped out of high school and moved to California to pursue a rap career and began to garner attention and fans.[4]

In 2016, an executive at First Access Entertainment (“FAE”) noticed Lil’ Peep’s rising stardom and convinced him to sign on with the entertainment company.[5] FAE hired Belinda Mercer to manage Lil’ Peep’s last tour, during which he fatally overdosed on Xanax laced with fentanyl.[6] In the days leading up to his death, Lil’ Peep had described in interviews that he was “spiraling” and friends were concerned with his escalating depression and anxiety.[7]

On the day he died, Lil’ Peep tried to cancel his evening show.[8] His tour mate stated Lil’ Peep was told that he could only do so if he were “sick” and took Xanax in an attempt to appear too sick to perform.[9] Unknown to Lil’ Peep, the Xanax he consumed was laced with fentanyl, a deadly compound responsible for many opiate-related overdoses.[10] Mercer found his body when she tried to rouse him for his show.[11]

In October of 2019, Lil’ Peeps mother, Liza Womack, filed claims against FAE and its agents, seeking damages for negligence, wrongful death, and breach of contract.[12] In her claims, Womack stated ten causes of action.[13] In October of 2020, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge upheld all ten and refused to strike Womack’s request for punitive damages.[14]

In her suit against FAE, Womack, (Lil’ Peep’s mother), alleges that Mercer, acting as an agent of FAE, provided her son with drugs and encouraged him to use.[15] Evidence on the record contains text messages between Mercer and the late rapper illustrating that he would frequently ask her for “ket”- ketamine, a tranquilizer used recreationally to lessen anxiety, and Xanax.[16] Another entertainer on tour with Mercer corroborates this claim, stating that Mercer acted as the entertainers’ “pimp”, offering drugs for their performances and for maintaining sexual relationships with her.[17]

Womack further claims that FAE and its agents influenced Lil’ Peep to use drugs to counteract his growing anxiety and depression.[18] She alleges that the entertainment company failed to protect her son and instead “encouraged and facilitated the drug-laden environment” that produced his overdose.[19] FAE categorically denies ever providing Lil’ Peep with illicit substances or encouraging his drug use, calling the accident a “self-inflicted drug overdose” and the Xanax “street drugs he obtained from unknown sources.”[20]

At a February 17, 2022 court hearing in Los Angeles, Judge Teresa Beaudet dismissed the defendant’s motion to dismiss the wrongful death suit.[21] If Womack succeeds, entertainment managers may be pressured to apply more stringent policies banning drug use on the tours that they manage. Pressure to present as anti-drugs may also extend to the glorification of drug use, which has always been a hotly contested issue in the music industry.

Trial is scheduled for March of 2023.[22]

[1] https://pitchfork.com/features/interview/lil-peeps-mother-liza-womack-talks-about-her-sons-life-and-legacy/

[2] Id.

[3] Id.

[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9STnTNuDRuY

[5] https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/lil-peep-tragedy-torment-804686/

[6] https://pitchfork.com/news/lil-peep-wrongful-death-case-unsealed-texts-reveal-drug-infected-mismanagement-rappers-mom-argues/

[7] https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/lil-peep-tragedy-torment-804686/

[8] Id.

[9] Id.

[10] Id.

[11] Id.